The Day They Met
by fireinthehemlock
Summary: Edward and Bella meet for the first time lost in a store when they're six years old. They don't meet again until they are both 16, and though they never forgot their first meeting, a lot has changed since then ... Can they find the child they first knew in one another? Did their original connection last?


**This is pretty much my first attempt at fanfiction - and definitely the first I've put up here. Please read it anyways - tell me what you think. If even one of you likes it, I'll probably continue.**

**I don't own Twilight or anything even remotely Twilight related.**

Prologue:

The first time he met her, he hadn't been having a good day. In fact, it had been pretty terrible. His mother had dragged him shopping on a Sunday – for shoes. His sister had 'accidentally' dropped them in the river the day before, and they'd floated down stream before his mother could do anything about it.

He was angry that Alice hadn't gotten into any trouble. He was angry because he loved those shoes and his mom was making him get different ones. He was angry because none of the shoes in the store were good enough. He was angry because he was wasting a day that he could have been spending with Jasper, who was five and had school on the weekdays.

When his mother tried, once again, to get him to accept a pair of shoes that were, once again, not comfortable enough, and the wrong colors, and just not the same as the old ones, he shouted. He called her a stupid ogre, and that she was worse than the evil witches in movies, and she just didn't understand, and then he ran away from her as fast as he could. He heard her running after him, but her high-heeled shoes slowed her down, and he turned a lot of corners so she lost him among the racks of clothes.

He dove into a circular rack of jeans. The jeans reached all the way to the floor, so light only came in through the top, and no one could see through the sides to him. He pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs, resting his chin on his knees. He rocked back and forth, his eyes welling with tears, as afraid of his mother leaving him there as she was of her finding him.

Suddenly, from behind him, he heard a soft, timid voice.

"Who are you?"

He nearly cried out, shocked and confused, and turned around, as quickly as he could in the confined space, to see a small girl, sitting similarly to him, her knees drawn up to her chest. Most of her was in shadow, but he could see that her eyes were shining with tears. He wondered if his looked the same way. He guessed they probably did, and looked down, embarrassed to be crying in front of a girl.

"What's wrong?" the girl asked in her soft voice. Her voice was sweet and comforting, and it made him feel better almost right away. "Did you lose your daddy too?" she asked.

Edward looked back up at her and shook his head. "No. My mamma."

The girl looked sad. Edward felt like he should reach out to her. He wanted to give her a hug. "I lost my mamma too. But I don't think she's going to get found again."

Edward nodded, not really understanding, but not needing a better explanation.

"You know," Edward said, "Your daddy will have a harder time finding you if you stay in here."

"Well, maybe I don't want him to find me," she crossed her arms over her chest, pouting. "He doesn't care about me anyways. He won't even buy me bubble gum."

"I don't want my mamma to find me either. She's making me buy new shoes. I don't want new shoes."

The girl smiled. Edward thought her smile was beautiful. "I hate shopping. If I had a choice, I wouldn't wear shoes at all, but my daddy makes me."

They were quiet for a moment.

"Hey," Edward whispered, "What's your name?"

"I'm Bella," she said, "What about you?"

"I'm Edward," he told her.

She snickered. "That's my grand-daddy's name. It's for old people!"

Edward frowned. "It's for me too," he said, "And I'm not old. I'm four."

He couldn't help thinking it was cute when she snickered like that.

She nodded seriously. "You're right, you're not old. I'm not old either. I'm four, too."

She held up four fingers in the dim light.

There was another brief silence, before Bella said something that took both of them by surprise.

"You're really beautiful," she blurted out. As soon as it left her mouth, her face turned red – the color of strawberries, Edward thought.

"Boys can't be beautiful," he told her, "Girls are beautiful, boys are handsome."

"Oh," she said, "Well, alright, you're handsome then," she corrected herself. Her blush deepened.

"Your face looks like a strawberry," he pointed out.

She frowned, opening her mouth to tell him he was wrong, but before she could, he said, "It's really pretty."

Her mouth closed and she smiled amazingly, the blush not leaving her face. He couldn't help smiling back. The girl was making Edward's stomach feel strange, but it was a kind of strange that made him happier. His mamma had told him that love felt like that – it made your face hurt from smiling and your stomach ache and your brain got muddled. If he wasn't feeling that right now, he didn't know what he was feeling.

"I think-" he hesitated briefly.

"What?" she asked.

"I think I'm in love with you. We should get married."

That was what people did when they were in love, after all. Bella pressed her lips together, thinking.

"I think I love you too," she whispered, "But marriage is for grown-ups. So we'll have to wait. Do you think that's okay?"

Edward frowned. "I don't want to wait. But I guess that's alright."

"You'll still love me when we've grown up?" she asked.

"Of course. True love is forever and ever."

"You promise?"

"Pinky promise."

"I promise to love you forever too," she blushed again and bit her lip.

That made Edward grin bigger than he ever had.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked.

She nodded hesitantly, looking down nervously.

He took her hands in his, and she looked up at him slowly. He leaned in carefully, not wanting the hit their noses together. He tilted his head to the right, and their lips met for a short moment. They came away grinning and feeling happier than they ever had. Their hands stayed joined together.

"Kiss me again?" she asked boldly. Edward was glad to. He gave her three more short, sweet, pecks on the lips. They were wet and slobbery and Bella and Edward thought they were the most amazing kisses that could be had.

"What's your last name Bella?" he asked.

"Swan."

"Mine's Cullen," he told her, smiling. "What's your favorite color?"

"Green."

"Mine too. Favorite movie?"

"I like Peter Pan," she said, "He's really cute."

Edward frowned.

"You're cuter, though."

He smiled again.

"My favorite is Spiderman," he said.

Suddenly, the heard a deep, worried sounding voice, calling out.

"Bella! B-girl! Where are you?"

Bella tensed up. "I should go," she whispered.

"Don't," Edward said, "Stay here with me. We can run away."

She shook her head sadly. "No, my daddy needs me at home. But we'll see each other again."

Edward sighed, forlorn. "You're right. Bella Swan, I am going to marry you some day. I promise. Okay?"

"Okay," she whispered, "Goodbye."

She gave him a kiss on the cheek, then pushed her way out through the wall of jeans, calling for her father.

Edward sat there in a sort of daze, listening to her footsteps fade away. A few minutes later, he crawled out and went to find his mother. It didn't take him long, and when she spotted him she scolded him for running off, but looked relieved and teared up as she hugged him.

Later, Bella would tell him that he'd owned her heart since he told her he loved her that day. She would tell him that it had been the best day of her life.

He would tell her the feeling was mutual.

The two wouldn't meet again until the first day of tenth grade.

**A/N: Thanks for reading!**


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